Viva Pinata
Viva Piñata is a completely original game; it just can't be classified into the same genre as any 'pet' or 'gardening' game that has come before it. The game starts with you receiving a small, run-down patch of land which you will turn into your garden and as you'd expect as the game goes on you'll gain access to more space and various other things to help make your dream garden. You'll be able to grow grass, care for plants and trees, make ponds, fill your garden with all sorts of objects, make money and of course take care of your piñata. All of this is for the most part a joy to do. You'll also have a variety of merchants at your call as well as your 3 main tools, the shovel, the watering can and the grass packet, the can and shovel will be upgraded as you go and this is a good addition to the game, however with each upgrade usually only making the most insignificant difference upgrades can sometimes seem slightly pointless.
As for the piñata themselves you'll have 60 to play with in total, although Viva Piñata does not really keep the piñata themselves as a collectable part of the game as you will won't have space to have every piñata in the game at once and this is a positive addition which helps keeps the piñata from becoming like collectable items. As you reach certain points in the game new piñata will appear to you and you will have to fulfil various requirements to get the piñata to visit your garden, become resident and eventually 'romance' with other piñata of the same species. These requirements usually involve aspects of the environment, food, housing or other piñata and the requirements are all well balanced between piñata and give a warm sense of satisfaction upon completion. The romancing (or breeding) of piñatas involves a short snake/pacman-like minigame where you must get one piñata to the other, avoiding the bombs and collecting the coins. The minigames are well-designed, with each one having a specific layout for the piñata. After the romancing an egg will arrive an shortly afterwards hatch into a new baby piñata.
There is also a levelling structure n the game and to earn experience you will need to collect rewards which you can get by discovering things or managing to complete a task for the first time. It's a great system as it brings a further sense of achievement to the game while keeping it from ever feeling it like a grind and it also keeps things moving, encouraging you to go after new plants and piñata. The game also does have in-game time, gently coaxing you into taking care of your piñata during the day and performing other tasks at night. You'll find some piñata more nocturnal than others but night in some cases will slow down pace for the worst, if you were really intent on performing something during the day for example you will have to sit around the whole night waiting until dawn when your piñata will be wide awake enough to be persuaded to come out of their homes and let you continue your daily routine. Another note-worthy inclusion in the game is the helpers, this particular service can be an annoyance as although they will usually perform the tasks they're supposed to they are introduced early in the game when you probably can do what they do by yourself, much cheaper but later in the game you'll find they just can't keep up with the frantic pace of caring for your garden.
Of course caring for your garden can't be all sunshine and buttercups, you've got to deal with evil sour piñata (who will eventually become sweet, piñata residents if you fulfil their requirements), ruffians looking to defile your garden paradise, Dastardos who will come to kill any sick piñata and later in the game Professor Pester. The first 3 mentioned are forgivable nuisances but even a single visit from Pester can seriously ruin your garden, Pester will wander round the garden looking for your most valuable piñata and then just smash to pieces a piñata you may have been working days (real time) to acquire, worst of all the only way you can get rid of him is with a rare item you'll have to play up to level 30 for anyway. There are also a few other problems with the game such as the fact that to stop naturally conflicting species of piñata fighting each other you'll need to separate them with fences but these create great problems as they are just one cause of various infuriating pathing problems in the game. The achievements in the game are very well-balanced with 50 achievements in all. The difficulty slop in Viva Piñata is also very good, beggining extremely easily but actually ending up at a very challenging level where you'll have to be good to maintain your garden but even better to make the right decisions.
That should cover gameplay, now onto graphics. The most instantly noticeable thing about Viva Piñatas graphics is that they are very vibrant and colourful; they also take advantage of the 360s graphical capabilities by using a number of useful effects in an artistic manner. You'll notice the twilight, dream-like glow of the morning and the soft, darkened night and it's all really good. You can even stare at the realistic reflections in the ponds or actually watch the plants grow. The game does start to lose some detail if you zoom in too far but Rare have still done a good job. However the illusion of this beautiful world can be spoilt by the time you notice that moving the right distance away from an object or turning around very quickly results in an obvious drop in quality or the game frantically trying to reapply more-detailed graphical settings and this does somewhat take away from the world of Viva Piñata. But despite a few minor flaws the graphics of Viva Piñata are as enticing as the rest of the game.
The sound in Viva Piñata is also surprisingly good. It's all put in to place just right to give the game a certain feeling. The general sound effects are good, the voice acting is good and the piñatas calls are all pitch-perfect. But the music in Viva Piñata is beautiful, it has an almost all-classical selection of music but the orchestral pieces in the games soundtrack compliment the events of the game perfectly.
There is also a certain amount of plot in the game. It comes in the form of the 'storybook', your not actually forced to follow it and it's great to have the freedom to get on with the game but if you do decide to read the storybook as you go you'll find it a rewarding experience which ties into the game very cleverly.
Overall fun, beautiful and original are the only ways to describe Viva Piñata and the intertwining of all the components in the game is practically seamless. It's just a shame there are a few unresolved weaknesses you will inevitably encounter.
